News

Rand Simon's Blog: An eye-opening experience in Sierra Leone

My trip to the West African country of Sierra Leone was an unforgettable, eye-opening experience punctuated by uplifting moments thanks to people who believe you can always sing in the face of dire circumstance.

I guess the fact it took me four months to find the words for this piece proves I made the right decision when I left journalism 16 years ago to join Newport Sports Management.

The purpose of the African trip was to be present at the dedication of a new school in Sierra Leone that was sponsored by Newport at the direction of our president, Don Meehan.

Most of my work-related travel involves flying somewhere in North America for a game or a meeting and coming back home the next day. And chances are, I interact with more millionaires in a month than the average hockey fan will meet in their entire life.

So you can imagine my surprise when Donnie asked me last December how I would feel about going to Sierra Leone. Turns out Don had an idea for our firm to sponsor a school in the impoverished nation and he asked if I would be interested in representing our company at the opening of the school.

Having never traveled to a developing country before, my emotions ranged from apprehension to excitement. After a logistical delay set the trip back a couple months, my wife, Laurel (an elementary school principal), and I boarded a flight for Freetown.

After nearly 20 hours of travel we were met at the airport by Dr. Thomas Mark Turay (known by most of the locals as simply TMT), a remarkable native of Sierra Leone who rose from the depths of poverty to improve the world through his organization CD Peace.

We were joined on the trip by Sherry Prenevost, the CEO of Green Solutions Charitable Trust (and such a veteran of Sierra Leone that she was made an honorary chief) and Dawn Hatch, a Northern California-based journalist. In Sierra Leone we were often in the company of Carolyn Van Gurp, a Canadian who has moved to that country as part of her work with Peaceful Schools International. Her blog describing life in Sierra Leone was an invaluable part of our preparation for the trip.

We spent five days there, dividing our time among four small villages in the heart of the country: Myagba, Mokonchorie, Mothombo and Mapaki.

The highlight of the trip was the dedication for the new school opening in Mothombo. The ceremony was attended by dignitaries and politicians from throughout the country and lasted for several hours. Prior to the start of the ceremony we were greeted by signing children with signs thanking Newport and Green Solutions for their new school. As we walked towards the procession of children, their songs sent chills down all of our spines.

Some children held up small Canadian flags to welcome us. We noticed one boy of about five years old who held his Canadian flag above his head for a good 30 minutes in the oppressive heat without letting his arm drop. I still get emotional when I think of him standing there and picture where he is in life compared to my own five-year-old son.

Speaking of emotional, the day before the new school dedication there was a ceremony to remember the dead who had perished in the old school several years earlier during the country’s civil war. Rebels had destroyed the small school by burning it to the ground, but not before locking the doors and preventing anyone from escaping. Needless to say, there were a lot of tears shed.

Calling Sierra Leone “poor” is like calling Alex Ovechkin a good hockey player. The villages are void of electricity, running water and, for parts of the year, there is scarcely enough food to feed the people there. It truly is the land time forgot.

And, yet, you will rarely hear any complaints from the villagers. The children are full of life and joy and hope. If the children aren’t laughing that’s only because they are either singing or cheering. The loudest cheers were when we would show them the digital image of a picture we had just taken.

Mostly, the children just want to be around us aportos (white people). They swarmed us every morning when we emerged from the guest houses and a walk through the village involved several children hanging on to our hands and arms, literally fighting each other for the opportunity to walk close to us.

And while I guess I should not have been surprised, it was quite alarming when on my first day there a child of about 10 asked me if my parents were still alive. While that’s not a question I have ever been asked by a child in Canada, it makes sense when you consider the average life expectancy in Sierra Leone is 40.6 years according to the CIA World Factbook, ranking it 215th out of 221 countries. (The United Nations ranks Sierra Leone 192nd out of 195 countries with an average life expectancy of 42.6). No matter which number you use, it’s a shocking thought to realize you have already reached the age where most people die in this country. Some of the children had no idea how old they were since they did not have parents around to tell them when they were born. Close to 20 percent of the people in the villages are under the age of six.

Speaking of the United Nations, there happened to be a UN delegation visiting Sierra Leone when we were there. I had the honor of meeting Canada’s Permanent Representative to the UN, John McNee, at a lunch in Mapaki that was attended by dozens of UN representatives. While the personal highlight of the lunch was getting a cold drink for the first time on the trip, it was disappointing the UN delegation didn’t spend any time in the village once lunch ended as the group was whisked away to its next appointment. If they had, they would have witnessed how incredibly primitive the living conditions were. Instead, they saw only the relatively modern community center and there were literally no children around as they all got scared and ran away when the local police arrived half an hour or so before the UN group came to Mapaki.

In Sierra Leone’s villages, it is common for at least a dozen people to live in one, 500-square foot house that has nothing more than a hard, mud floor. All cooking and cleaning is done in the “yard” outside. The home is only a place to sleep and take shelter during the rainy season.

Dealing with the heat was the most difficult part of the experience. With no electricity (meaning no fans) and constant temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius, we woke up sweating and we went to bed the same way. We drank room temperature water out of small, plastic bags and tried to stay under the shade of various fruit trees.

That the villagers of Sierra Leone were able to build a beautiful new school almost entirely by hand in those conditions is remarkable.

The villages might be like the land time forgot, but we must never forget what they are going through. It just isn’t right that we have so much here in the western world while those people have so little. Hopefully through the efforts of Don Meehan and Newport Sports – and the other organizations I touched on earlier – thousands of children will now get the education and life they deserve.

This article first appeared in the Sept. 14 issue of The Hockey News magazine.

Rand Simon is an NHLPA certified agent. He has spent the past 15 years with Newport Sports Management Inc. You can read his other THN.com Insider Blogs HERE.

News

Power Rankings: Red-hot Blue Jackets still fighting for respect

News

Power Rankings: Red-hot Blue Jackets still fighting for respect

The Blue Jackets have been the most pleasant surprise in the NHL this season, but it's still going to take convincing for the hockey world to believe they're for real.

We’ll totally understand if you’re having just a little trouble getting on board with the 2016-17 version of the Columbus Blue Jackets. After all, you’ve probably been burned before.

Their fan base certainly seems to be wary. Despite the fact the Blue Jackets are the surprise of the NHL and have emerged as one of the most dynamic and exciting teams in the league, they drawn fewer than 12,000 in three of their past four home games. Even their coach thinks the team has work to do to earn their fans’ trust. “I want our team to have a chip on their shoulder,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella told Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch recently. “I think they should. We’re trying to get respect in the league. Quite honestly, we should be disrespected because of where we’ve been.”

That won’t last long if the Blue Jackets keep this up. The league’s best power play continues to fuel one of the league’s hottest teams and has landed them at the top of thn.com’s weekly Power Rankings for the second time this season. Last week’s rankings in parentheses:

CREAM OF THE CROP

1. Columbus Blue Jackets (8)

2. Philadelphia Flyers (15)

3. Pittsburgh Penguins (6)

4. St. Louis Blues (2)

5. Chicago Blackhawks (5)

6. Montreal Canadiens (7)

7. New York Rangers (4)

8. San Jose Sharks (11)

9. Boston Bruins (20)

10. Calgary Flames (27)

Is there a bigger bargain or a shrewder off-season signing than Sam Gagner?...Steve Mason went from one of the worst goalies in the NHL early in the season to one of the best of late. His save percentage in his first 16 games was .892, but has improved to .947 in his past five… If Marc-Andre Fleury wants to get traded, he’s not doing himself any favor with his play lately…The Blues completed a 4-0-1 home stand with the game going into overtime…With Jonathan Toews and Corey Crawford already out, the Blackhawks lost defenseman Brent Seabrook in their 4-0 win over Arizona Tuesday night…How will the Canadiens and the surprising Alexander Radulov respond to the injury to Alex Galchenyuk?...The injury-ravaged Rangers saw Rick Nash go down with a groin injury and Matt Puempel to a concussion in their 4-2 loss to the Islanders Tuesday night…Joe Thornton passed Brendan Shanahan for 25th all-time on the NHL’s scoring list with an assist in a 2-1 win over Montreal last week…Anyone who predicted David Pastrnak would be in Rocket Richard Trophy contention a third of the way into the season is looking very bright at the moment…The Flames were already one of the hottest teams in the NHL without Johnny Gaudreau, then won their first two with him back in the lineup.

THE MUSHY MIDDLE

11. Washington Capitals (11)

12. Edmonton Oilers (14)

13. Ottawa Senators (12)

14. Los Angeles Kings (1)

15. New Jersey Devils (23)

16. Detroit Red Wings (16)

17. Nashville Predators (3)

18. Minnesota Wild (19)

19. Anaheim Ducks (10)

20. Winnipeg Jets (17)

Capitals coach Barry Trotz had some pointed words to Alex Ovechkin about his penchant for taking minor penalties of late. No cracks in the foundation, though. Just a frank discussion…The Oilers game Tuesday night against Buffalo was touted as Connor McDavid vs. Jack Eichel, the kind of narrative the Oilers have learned to accept. “Every night it’s Connor vs. Somebody,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan…Goalie Craig Anderson started in the Senators’ 8-5 loss to Pittsburgh Monday night, but did not travel with the team for a three-game California trip to be with his wife as she undergoes treatment for throat cancer…The usually stingy Kings have given up 11 goals in their past three games. “That’s too many goals,” said Kings coach Darryl Sutter…Devils winger Taylor Hall on the aftermath of his clean, but devastating, hit on Philip Larsen Tuesday night: “I feel terrible.” Not to be trite, but Hall should not be feeling terrible about the way he has played since returning from a knee injury. He has five points in his past two games…Goalie Jimmy Howard will be back in uniform for the Red Wings when they host Columbus Friday night, but will have a difficult time pushing Petr Mrazek out of the crease…After missing four games with an upper-body injury, James Neal scored a goal in a 4-3 Predators’ win over Colorado Tuesday night…Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk, whose career was revived when he came to Minnesota, will make his 300th career start tonight in Toronto…Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle could not pull Jonathan Bernier during his team’s 8-3 loss to Calgary because backup John Gibson was battling a stomach virus…Over the past 30 years, only Teemu Selanne and Alex Ovechkin have scored goals at a better pace than Patrik Laine of the Jets is scoring them now.

VYING FOR THE PARTICIPATION BADGE

21. New York Islanders (26)

22. Tampa Bay Lightning (22)

23. Carolina Hurricanes (25)

24. Buffalo Sabres (29)

25. Florida Panthers (24)

26. Vancouver Canucks (18)

27. Toronto Maple Leafs (13)

28. Dallas Stars (28)

29. Arizona Coyotes (21)

30. Colorado Avalanche (30)

With points in each of their past five games, four of them wins, the Islanders are easily on their most successful string of the season…The Lightning could get Ryan Callahan, Jason Garrison and Jonathan Drouin back for their home game against Vancouver Thursday night…Jordan Staal, sidelined for the past four games with a concussion, likely won’t be available to the Hurricanes for a three-game road trip through California that begins tonight…After playing almost 500 games in the minors, defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer made his NHL debut in the Sabres’ 3-2 overtime win over Washington Tuesday night… Panthers have gone to overtime in four of their five games GM Tom Rowe has been behind the bench. They’ve won one in overtime, lost two in OT and one in a shootout…Philip Larsen, who was taken off the ice on a stretcher after a hit from Taylor Hall Tuesday night, was released from hospital in New Jersey Wednesday morning and was cleared to return to Vancouver while the Canucks continue on a five-game road trip…After waiving Jhonas Enroth, the Maple Leafs search for a backup goalie continues. They signed Karri Ramo to a professional tryout contract and assigned him to their farm team. That should cure everything…The Coyotes have been outscored 14-6 and have averaged 41 shots against per game in an 0-3-1 month of December…All nine of Matt Duchene’s goals this season have come on the road. The Avs could use that kind of production at the Pepsi Center, where they’re 4-8-1 this season and recently went 0-4-1 on a five-game homestand.

Bettman says next season's salary cap could go ‘a couple or so million up'

News

Bettman says next season's salary cap could go ‘a couple or so million up'

The NHL could be looking at a $2 million rise in the salary cap for next season, but early projections should be taken with a grain of salt. In December 2015, a potential rise of $3 million was projected. The upper limit increased by only $1.6 million.

It’s still far too soon to tell, but early estimations have it looking like the salary cap could jump up as much as $2 million ahead of the 2017-18 campaign.

Following the NHL’s Board of Governors meetings on Thursday, commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about what the league sees as a potential cap for the upcoming campaign, which, among other things, will see the introduction of the league’s 31st franchise in the Vegas Golden Knights.

Bettman didn’t give an exact figure as to what the cap will look like, but he said there’s the potential for the upper limit to move by roughly $2 million.

"There's always a range, but it's something we're going to have to look at very carefully in terms of how may be best to approach it," Bettman said, according to NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. "The cap could range from where it is now to a couple or so million up, but we're going to all have to focus on what makes most sense going forward.”

Any increase in the cap would be good news for the players, especially pending unrestricted free agents looking to land long-term, big-money deals. St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Ben Bishop are two of the biggest names currently slated to hit the open market come July 2017.

Of course, there’s a chance the cap stays flat, which Bettman also indicated, but said he’d prefer to speak with the NHLPA about a possible flat cap before answering questions about it.

Before any GMs with tight cap situations or fans who’re praying their respective teams get some cap breathing room go celebrating, it’s worth noting that early projections for the 2016-17 salary cap saw the upper limit increasing by close to $3 million. That would have seen the cap rise from $71.4 million to $74.5 million, and anyone paying close attention to the financials of the league’s teams is aware that rise in the upper limit didn’t quite come to fruition.

Instead, the cap for the current campaign is $71.4 million, and the rise is mostly thanks to the NHLPA using their five-percent “escalator clause.” Had the players not used the clause, there was some concern the cap could have actually dipped from the past season to the current campaign. Some projections had the cap possibly falling below $70 million for 2016-17.

A rise of $2 million would be only slightly more than the $1.6 million increase from 2015-16 to 2016-17, and it would be one of the smallest increases since the salary cap was introduced in 2005-06. From 2008-09 to 2009-10, the cap rose by only $100,000 and there was no rise in the cap from 2011-12 to 2013-14, with teams allowed to spend to a $60-million limit during the 2012-13 lockout-shortened campaign.

News

Coyotes’ Cunningham alert, awake and joking with teammates, but remains in hospital

There’s still no word as to what exactly caused Coyotes AHL captain Craig Cunningham to collapse on ice, but the 26-year-old was in contact with teammates and cracking jokes earlier this week.

More than two weeks after collapsing on the ice ahead of an AHL game between the Coyotes and Jets AHL affiliates, news has come that Craig Cunningham is starting to get back to his old self.

According to Tucson’s KVOA, Cunningham spoke with two teammates, Brandon Burlon and Christian Fisher, via FaceTime earlier this week, and both said that things are starting to look up for the 26-year-old Cunningham.

Fisher added that it was nice to see Cunningham, the captain of the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate Tucson Roadrunners, smiling again. But he wasn’t just smiling, he was also trying to have a good time with his teammates while hinting that he wants to get back on the ice.

“He was cracking jokes just as if he were here the next day," Fisher told KVOA. "It was pretty funny. He said he wanted us to come pick him up and take him to the rink. He was joking around. Stuff like that.”

The mystery still remains as to what caused Cunningham’s collapse, however. It came just moments before the game was set to start and resulted in medical staff in the building cutting away his equipment in order to attend to him. Cunningham ended up leaving the ice on a stretcher, was transported to hospital and he remained in critical but stable condition for much of the past two weeks.

Still, though, Burlon and Fisher said that there’s no “definitive answer” as to what caused Cunningham’s medical emergency. That’s more than all right with both players, too, so long as Cunningham’s health is starting to look up.

"What we do know is that he is doing well and we are moving forward here," Fisher told KVOA. "Hopefully, he will start the road to recovery now.”

Cunningham has suited up for 319 AHL games over the course of his career, netting 101 goals and 203 points, as well as scoring an additional three goals and eight points in 63 NHL games. He was drafted 97th overall by the Bruins in 2010, but was picked up by Arizona off waivers from Boston during the 2014-15 season.

John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

News

John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

The New York Islanders captain undressed Jay Bouwmeester in the most unusual of ways, but the important thing is he kept the puck. Then he buried it

John Tavares: good at hockey.

The New York Islanders captain pulled off an absolutely stunning series of moves last night, culminating in a laser-shot goal against St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen. But let's get back to his humbling of Olympic gold medallist Jay Bouwmeester, because that's where the real magic happened.

Witness, as Tavares puts his stick behind his back and grabs it with his other hand while still skating and fending off Bouwmeester. Then, since he is a patient boy, Tavares waits and waits and waits before firing one top corner on Allen:

As the soccer folks would say, lovely. New York would go on to beat the Blues 3-2, with Anders Lee scoring the other two goals for the Isles. After struggling to begin the season, New York is now 6-2-2 in its past 10 games. Tavares leads the squad with 21 points through 26 contests.